A plurality of automatic placement machines, which are normally linked by means of a transport system and which for example interact for the manufacture of electronic parts, constitute a placement line.
With regard to automatic placement machines, for example for equipping substrates with components, feed devices for components are arranged to the side on a transport path for the substrates. A placement head, which can be moved by means of a positioning system, of the automatic placement machine picks up the components from the feed devices, moves said components to a placement region of the automatic placement machine, in which the substrate to be equipped is supplied, and sets the components down on the substrate. So-called belt feeders for example which are suitable for the transportation and delivery of components mounted in belts are used for supplying the components. These transport the components loaded in pocket-like depressions to a pick-up position at which the components are picked up from the belt pockets by the placement head. The empty belt leaves the feed device at a suitable point. Such a feed device is known from EP 1374657 B1.
Furthermore, the grouping in setup groups of lots to be manufactured on a placement line is known for example from electronics manufacturing. All the lots of a setup group are manufactured in each case with the same line setup. Constant tables are tables installed in a fixed position in this situation and fitted in a fixed manner, which are identical for all the setups of the setup groups. The concept of constant tables reduces the changeover resource requirement and makes it possible to save on setup equipment.
Nowadays, the setups of the constant tables are ascertained by a production scheduler, in each case having an individual strategy based on the experience of the production scheduler and ascertained more or less by trial and error. The time requirement associated therewith is very high and the results are often not satisfactory.
The US patent specification U.S. Pat. No. 6,829,514 B2 discloses a method for achieving a balancing strategy based on mixed integer linear programming (MILP) in placement lines.